Stephen Ball, Interview with Professor Stephen J. Ball about ethics of intellectual work by Jefferson Mainardes, Práxis Educativa, Ponta Grossa, v. 21, e27091, p. 1-8, 2026
https://doi.org/10.5212/PraxEduc.v.21.27091.062
Open access Interview also available in Portuguese
Stephen J. Ball is a British sociologist of education, recognised worldwide as one of the leading figures in the fields of education policy and the sociology of education. He is Emeritus Professor of Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education (IOE), University College London (UCL). Ball’s ideas and publications have a strong influence on education policy research in Brazil and Latin America1, serving as theoretical contributions to research on the process of formulating and enacting education policies, as well as on the impact of neoliberalism, commodification, and privatisation on the configuration of contemporary education systems.
The question of ethics has been a recurring theme in his most recent work, which addresses, for example, the ethics of intellectual work, the ethics of extinction and continuity, education as an ethical activity, the ethics of errancy, and the ethics of responsibility. Inspired primarily by post- structuralist theories, especially the thought of Michel Foucault, Ball does not treat ethics merely as an abstract code of conduct but as a dynamic arena of dispute, subject formation, and the exercise of power. In this interview, we present some questions about the place of ethics in his research and his views on ethics today.
Foucault News 